Paul Levine is the brainchild behind the Bear Creek Music Festival, my favorite yearly musical event. The Festival is held in November at the beautiful Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida.
The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park offers cabins and camping, swimming, canoeing, horseback riding, hiking trails and a general store and restaurant and hosts many great annual musical events, including Wanee Festival, Suwannee River Jam, Springfest, Magfest and Paul's latest offering, the Blackwater Music Festival.
Paul's charm and passion flows like a river as he took me up on the offer to be the subject of this week's interview.
What kind of work goes into preparing the Bear Creek Music festival and what are the biggest challenges you have faced?
We work on Bear Creek year round. Last year, we announced our initial 2010 line-up on Jamcruise, January 5 2010, less than 2 months after Bear Creek 2009. Conceptually, we are already thinking about Bear Creek 2011. We are even toying with the idea of announcing a few 2011 artists in this year's program.
I recently moved to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. so that I can spend more physical time at the site getting to know how the Park works and getting more familiar with the ways of Suwannee County and the region. Many of our Bear Creek crew also live in this area, so we are able to work on new projects and better management year round. Our Festival Operations Manager Sonny Perez and I get together weekly for updates and breakfast.
The greatest challenge we have ever faced, and I hope that we ever will face, occurred in the fall of 2007. My friend and partner Lyle Williams had purchased an amazing property in Quincy, Florida- with the actual Bear Creek running through it- that was intended to be the home of the first Bear Creek Festival. 5 weeks before the show, the local Board of County Commissioners, spurred on by angry and organized local religious folks, denied our special events permit for the show. After this set-back, we hustled to find a suitable replacement venue for Bear Creek. We strongly gave consideration to canceling the show but, in the end, we decided to move to The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. And, as they say, the rest is history. I don't really believe in destiny, however, we consider the day we moved to the Music Park a really special and lucky moment.
What is your actual festival experience like?
I really love festival time so much. In our community, in north Florida and this area, Bear Creek has become a special late fall gathering of old friends, a family reunion of amazing people. The bands feel this way, so does the staff and the incredible music enthusiasts that travel from all over the country to support their favorite bands. During the show, I do everything possible to see at least one song by every band at that festival. We have about 60 bands this year, so I will surely fail at this endeavor, but I will try. I truly appreciate everyone coming to Bear Creek and playing their hearts out for this community. I love talking to our guests, our old and new friends. I love wandering around the campgrounds getting a feel for the vibe on site.
What other creative endeavors are you working on?
Our next big show is the Blackwater Music Festival, also at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park August 26-28. It has a super line-up focusing on different music than some of the other Park festivals. Slightly Stoopid, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Disco Biscuits, STS9, Galactic and JJ Grey and Mofro head the bill.
Every May, we present The Purple Hatter's Ball in honor of our friend Rachel Hoffman who was killed in a horrible undercover drug sting gone bad. Next May will be the fourth annual.
Now that I work at the Music Park, I am helping to organize a series of smaller regional music events focusing on the music of the area. We have had Valdosta In The Park and Gainesville In The Park, both focusing on their respective communities. This fall we will focus on Central Florida, Tallahassee and Jacksonville.
We are involved in bringing live music to Tallahassee at the Engine Room and work closely with The Freebird Live in Jacksonville.
This past May, we presented our first two shows in New Orleans during Jazzfest. That was quite an honor and a thrill.
What is the weirdest moment you have had as a professional in the creative arts field?
I can think of a few that I probably ought to keep to myself. LOL. One of the great perks of the job is never having a shortage of interesting and absurd moments, both musically and socially. The weirdest moment probably occurred back in 1996 when I was involved with a music club/bar/restaurant in Aspen, CO. There was a political rally/musical event organized to get the vote out in opposition to the proposed expansion of the Aspen Airport runway. I found myself on a dais speaking against this initiative with journalist Dan Dunn, John Bennett( mayor of Aspen), Bob Braudis( sheriff of Aspen), and Hunter S. Thompson. I was 25 at the time and I remember thinking, " what the hell is this dumb a**ed 25 year old doing on stage talking about local politics with these guys". What a celebration we had after victory on Election Night.
What is the one thing about your work that most people do not know or misunderstand
Well, I hope that people understand that Bear Creek is a collaborative effort. While I am always appreciative of folks kind words of praise for the festival and for my job performance, I hope they understand that every person that organizes, performs at, works at and attends a music festival is equally responsible for the success of the show. We are all on the same team. For a festival to be truly successful in my mind, it involves not only finances but more importantly the experience each participant of the event enjoys. The Bear Creek community is so special for a few fundamental reasons- because the fans love each other so much- because the artists respect and care for each other so deeply -because the staff is a family that has watched each other's backs for years. Over the first three years of Bear Creek, our fans and artists and staff have grown together and come together as the Bear Creek community. We all look out for each other and our festival. If any part of that equation was out of synch, the energy of Bear Creek would be completely different.
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